1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a reusable closure with a child-resistant or child-proof lock for pouches, sachets or bags and to methods for closing such pouches, sachets or bags.
2. Description of Related Art
Re-closable pouches are widely known, for example from PCT Publication No. WO 98/057,863 to Bois, published Dec. 23, 1998, and PCT Publication No. WO 2004/103,827 to Dais et al., published Dec. 2, 2004 (also published as U.S. Publication No. 2004/0,234,173 to Saad et al., on Nov. 25, 2004). The closure of these pouches is based on male and female closure elements on two opposite internal surfaces of the pouch. Some re-closable pouches use more sophisticated systems, like internal gripping sliders as disclosed for example in PCT Patent Publication No. WO 2002/008,078 to Tomic, published Jan. 31, 2002 (also issued as U.S. Pat. No. 6,290,393 on Sep. 18, 2001). PCT Patent Publication No. WO 2006/058,418 to Bondy, published Jun. 8, 2006, discloses a re-closable pouch having additional security closing device functions. U.S. Pat. No. 5,681,115 to Diederich et al., issued Oct. 28, 1997, discloses a child-resistant locking device for a re-closable pouch including a zipper operatively associated with the opening and movable between an open and closed position. The zipper is provided with a pull tab having an opening for actuating the zipper and a releasable lock supported on the pouch operatively associated with the pull tab opening for releasably retaining the zipper in the closed position. The lock includes elements requiring manual dexterity with both hands at a skill level common to an adult as opposed to a child for release. All these re-closable bags are not necessarily airtight and therefore do not reliably protect the content from degradation because of atmospheric aggressions.
Daesung Hi-tech Ltd. Co., a Korean company, offers devices over the Internet for airtight re-closing of pouches under the trademarks Anylock™, Coolock™, and Carrylock™ (www.mirbong.co.kr and www.anylock.co.kr). These closures comprise a cylindrical sleeve having open ends and a longitudinal slit forming an opening into the circumferential wall of the cylindrical sleeve. The longitudinal slit extends from one end, the feeding end, of the cylindrical sleeve until shortly before the other end, the stopper end, of the cylindrical sleeve end thereby forming a close end of the slit. The closure further comprises a rod which is longer than the cylindrical sleeve and adapted to be arranged concentrically within the cylindrical sleeve. One end of the rod, the blocker end, is broadened, such that upon inserting the other end, the free end, of the rod into the stopper end of the cylindrical sleeve the forward movement of the rod will be stopped when the blocker end of the rod engages the stopper end of the cylindrical sleeve. In this position the free end of the rod projects out of the feeding end of the cylindrical sleeve.
The Daesung device requires the pouch to be folded over and closed so the walls of the pouch form a kink. With one side this kink is slid into the feeding end of the cylindrical sleeve and moved forward along the longitudinal direction of the cylindrical sleeve to the stopper end of the cylindrical sleeve such that the folded parts of the walls proximate to the kink are arranged between the rod and the inner wall of the cylindrical sleeve. With this arrangement of the closure the pouch is closed. The pouch can be re-opened by sliding the closure from the folded pouch in the opposite direction such that the kink is moved away form the stopper end of the cylindrical sleeve. These closures can be used for any type of pouch with appropriate size.
Even though the Daesung device purports to be airtight, it may not always prove to be airtight in actual use. In addition, if the content of the pouch is a pharmaceutical, a cleaning agent or another substance which should not end up in the hands of children, the pouch should not be easily re-opened for safety reasons.